Shropshire Star

Little brother on hit list after nine-year-old overturns town’s ban on snowballs

Dane Best persuaded civic leaders to amend legislation.

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Snowball Ban

A nine-year-old boy has convinced the leaders of a small northern US town to overturn a nearly century-old ban on snowball fights.

He has already revealed his first target will be his little brother.

Dane Best, who lives in the often snow-swept town of Severance, in Colorado, presented his arguments at a town board meeting on Monday night, and members voted unanimously to lift the ban.

“I think it’s an outdated law,” Dane said ahead of the meeting.

“I want to be able to throw a snowball without getting in trouble.”

Dane’s mother, Brooke Best, told The Greeley Tribune her son had been talking about snowballs since he found out about a month and a half ago that it was illegal to throw them within town limits.

Snowball Ban
Dane presents his argument to town board trustees (Timothy Hurst/The Coloradoan/AP)

The last time it snowed, Dane said he and his friends looked around for police and joked about breaking the law.

Kyle Rietkerk, assistant to the Severance town administrator, said the rule was part of a larger ordinance that made it illegal to throw or shoot stones or missiles at people, animals, buildings, trees, any other public or private property or vehicles.

Snowballs fell under the town’s definition of “missiles”.

“All of the kids always get blown away that it’s illegal to have snowball fights in Severance,” Mr Rietkerk said before the meeting.

Snowball Ban
Dane sits on the lap of his mother, Brooke Best (Timothy Hurst/The Coloradoan/AP)

“So, what ends up happening is (town leaders) always encourage the kids with, ‘You have the power you can change the law’. No one has.”

Then Dane took up the cause, writing letters with his classmates in support of overturning the ban.

And after Monday night’s success, his four-year-old brother Dax had better watch out.

When board members asked Dane during a meeting in November who he wants to hit, he pointed at his little brother.

Dane and his family have researched other Severance ordinances, including one that defines pets only as cats and dogs.

Dane has a guinea pig, which is illegal in Severance, too.

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